


Reticence

by dreamgirls



Category: Kirby - All Media Types
Genre: Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Gen, Mentions of Blood, Mentions of physical wounds, Nonbinary Character, Slow Burn, but anyway this is more focused on the start of their friendship, gijinka designs are at @heartsyncs on twitter or tumblr, mentions of scars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-22
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-11-03 17:21:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17882012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamgirls/pseuds/dreamgirls
Summary: After losing to Kirby during his efforts to take over Pop Star, Marx is stuck there with his mangled wings and wounds.However, he's been tasked with taking care of another new resident in order to stay on Pop Star to heal. He's not too happy about it, nor does he really know what he's doing.His new housemate doesn't mind, though.[Characters are humanzied in this!]





	Reticence

**Author's Note:**

> idk if this is any good but it was fun so like. Yeehaw!

Marx ran a hand through his purple curls as he rested back on his bed. He laid in his usual attire, though stripped of his dual-colored vest and hat. He heaved a heavy sigh as he heard footsteps walk through the house. It sounded as if they were in the kitchen.

He didn't really want to deal with her at the moment. Hopefully she'd just stay out of their room for a while.

The mattress creaked under him as he raised up to unbutton his dress shirt. He hadn't changed the bandages wrapped around his torso in a couple days; he didn't want to be reminded of the wounds from his previous fight with Kirby. It was hard not to, though, when his wings were too mangled to work and caused him pain every time he moved. To put it simply, it sucked. 

"...Marx?" 

The jester jumped. Oh god, he hadn't heard the footsteps. He held his crumpled dress shirt over his bare chest in an effort to cover himself as he whipped his head around to see the intruder. 

She wasn't really an intruder, but Marx couldn't help but think of her that way. Her name was Cosmo, a recent arrival to Dream Land. She was the former guardian of the Star Rod, and by extension, the Fountain of Dreams. She'd apparently got knocked off and forcibly warped here, but Marx hardly had a clue as to why she stuck around. But anyway, she seemed pretty ignorant to him. Due to her hardly knowing much of anything, he'd had been tasked with taking care of her and teaching her about Dream Land. He just figured it was a cruel joke the others were playing on him. Him? Taking care of someone else? Yikes. 

Though, he couldn't do much to oppose it. The inhibitors of this planet would run him off if he didn't do something to make up for his attempts to take over, and he couldn't go anywhere in his state anyway. But this? Dealing with someone he hardly knew—and someone so oddly kind? He didn't know how to deal with it. Plus, now that his plan had been foiled and he was stuck here, his cute shtick wasn't necessary. He was too annoyed at his failure to even try. They all now knew he wasn't really like that anyway. 

"What do you want?" He snapped, frowning at Cosmo. His frown softened slightly when his eyes drifted downwards to the tray she was holding. "...You made food."

Cosmo nodded sheepishly. Her glowing white eyes crinkled as she smiled politely to him, letting herself in the room. She set the tray on the nightstand beside his bed. 

"I didn't think you knew how to cook?" He asked, his tone still biting. "If you destroyed my stuff trying to make this—!"

"Your stuff is fine," she interrupted. She didn't sound bothered by his attitude. "I've been working on it when you're not here."

He stole a quick glance over at the food on the tray. He honestly didn't know what it was, and whatever it was smelled burnt. At least she didn't break something.

He sighed in irritation. "That's great, but you realize that—!" He cut himself off as a yelp escaped past his lips. His head whipped around at feeling a pair of cool hands on his back. "What do you think you're doing?!" His cheeks heated up and his hands began to feel clammy; he really wasn't used to this kind of contact.

"Did this happen when you fought Kirby?" Cosmo asked, one of her hand tracing over the bruising and fresh scarring that stretched out above the bandages. "It looks painful," She gave a slight tug at the wraps with her other hand. "And these look dirty."

Marx huffed, crossing his arms as he tucked the shirt under his arm. "Yeah, and? What's it to you? Wanna laugh at me for messing up so bad?" He rolled his eyes. 

He could see her shake her head in the corner of his eyes. She watched him sadly, the glowing freckles on her face dimming slightly. "No, of course not. But I read that you're supposed to treat these things with care—and so, you're supposed to change out your bandages daily so they're kept clean. Shouldn't you do that?"

"Cosmo, I really don't care about it," He groaned. "It should just heal up and be done with it. It's not a big deal." He honestly didn't know if that's how it worked, but he couldn't bring himself to admit that. He just wanted to get out of this situation. 

"Here, one second," Cosmo muttered as she pulled her hands away from his back and straightened up. "Don't put your shirt back on, we're dealing with this now!" It was weird to hear her take an authoritative tone, but it was even weirder that she seemed so concerned about him. She rushed out of the room, but he could hear her call back as she rushed into the bathroom. "I'm serious, okay? It's not good for you to leave it unchanged!"

He sighed again. It seemed to be common when dealing with Cosmo. He crossed his legs together and propped one arm up to hold his head, and the other to hold the piece of clothing over his chest still. Why in the world was she so invested? He didn't want anything to do with her. 

Despite that, he started paying attention to her footsteps once again. She rushed back downstairs, walked around, and went right back into the bathroom. What in the world was she doing? He could hear her rummage around, then the sink start running. 

Soon enough, she came back into the room. She carried a thick book under her arm, some new bandages, and a wet hand cloth that she nervously watched drip onto the floor. He didn't say anything.

"Sorry for the mess," she muttered as she gently sat on the bed behind him. He didn't snap back like she thought he would. "Alright, we have to...take off the bandages now. Are you alright with me taking them off?" 

He didn't really expect her to ask. He nodded silently; his frown hidden from Cosmo's view. Then he felt her hands on his back again. She seemed to be going slow, and being awfully gentle as she pulled them off of him. She paused every now and then to read from the open book she'd laid beside her. Soon enough, cool air hit his chest and back for the first time in weeks. It felt raw.

"Alright, now to clean the wound," Cosmo whispered to herself. He felt the bed shift slightly as she leaned to grab the hand cloth. There was probably a big wet spot where she'd laid it down at now, he thought to himself in annoyance. He flinched at feeling the cold water dab into his flesh; it wasn't a good feeling. It stung horribly. He grit his teeth in pain and his body stiffened slightly. "Er, I'm sorry if it hurts. There's...a lot going on back here. But really, you have to be better about changing your bandages. There's a lot of dirt and bacteria that need to be cleaned out and you don't want to get infected, you know?" 

He couldn't really retort when her voice sounded so gentle. It was irritating.

He flinched hard one last time as she dabbed into the wound. "Way to ruin the moment," he muttered through his teeth. 

"And done!" It was like she choose to ignore him. "Now I'll re-wrap your wound. Try not to be too stiff, okay?" 

And so she did. Marx was just glad to be over with it. He quickly stood and and slid his shirt back on, buttoning it quickly. He turned back around to see his housemate staring up at him with curiosity. Jeez, didn't she know better than to watch someone dress? What a weirdo.

She looked back down at the old bandages. "They smell so bad. Why in the world did you keep these on for so long?" She was right—they smelled like blood and sweat. Gross. 

"I get it, they're dirty," Marx shot back. His tone didn't seem as rough as before. Perhaps he was warming up to her a bit? He hoped not. "Are we done here?"

Cosmo didn't even respond before hopping up off the bed with the old bandages and washcloth and walking out of the room, leaving the book behind. 

"You're kidding. She just left her stuff on my bed..." he whined to himself.

He heard her walk back in a couple minutes later, hands now free. He looked up at her after sitting back down, reclining back against the wall. She was smiling down at him as she held her star-filled locs as if she were feeling shy. 

She sat down to his side, picking up the book to set it on her lap. She turned her head to him, that soft smile still lingering on her face. 

"...What are you smiling about?" Marx asked, cocking a brow at her. 

"I'm just happy you trusted me to do that for you!" She chirped. 

Well, he should've expected something along that line, but it still caught him off-guard anyway. He blushed slightly, averting his eyes from her in his embarrassment.

"Yeah, yeah," he grunted. His cheeks wouldn't seem to cool down, to his horror, so he opted to change the subject. He looked to the book in her lap, creasing the ruffled folds of her dress. "Why are you reading something like that anyway? Medical junk sounds boring. Why not go read something about like...making friends, or whatever it is you like."

She laughed lightly. He raised his brows. 

"Well, uh, you see. I noticed a while ago that you were injured. I mean, yeah, you were always covered but it was obvious from how you'd retract in pain when you'd touch your back or flinch after stretching," she explained. "I thought maybe...I could help somehow? I mean, I know you probably don't really care either way, but I thought it'd be worth a try. And maybe it'd...help us into a friendship?" 

Marx frowned at how nervous her last words sounded. But he was ultimately surprised. He hadn't really expected her to put in so much effort for his sake. He definitely didn't deserve it with how he'd been acting. Only now did he really realize that her attempts to interact more with him hadn't been her being nosy, she had genuinely been trying to befriend him. But it felt weird to him, she knew of his betrayal to Kirby and his attempt to take over Pop Star. And yet...?

"...If you'd like, I could probably help you with changing your bandages from now on," she offered. He'd never heard her talk so quietly before. 

"Uh," he choked out. "Sure. I guess."

He turned away, but he could still see her raise her head to stare at him. He could see the corners of her lips spread out into a smile; one of those big ones that were too bright to look at directly. She was such a sap.

She leaned forward to take his arms into her hands. He could feel her eagerness as she looked at him. "Great! I'll make sure to write it down so we won't forget!" She chirped. "But you should eat now! Er, well, it may be a bit cold now, actually..."

Her smile turned sheepish and she let go of his arms for him to reach over and set it in his lap. Even now as it sat closer to him, it really didn't know what it was. It wasn't that he didn't know about food, obviously, but this...this was just undistinguishable. And it was burnt. It may not have smelt as burnt now, but it was darkened enough for him to be reminded of it. 

But he could feel Cosmo's eyes on him. After all this new information, he might maybe feel bad if he let her down. He picked it up with his hands and bit into it. It was not good. He cringed inwardly, but offered her an awkward smile after gulping it down. 

"Oh, you like it! I'm so glad!" She exclaimed, her bright smile blooming back on her face once again. She hopped up, book in hand. "Alright, I'll leave you to eat! Let's talk some more later, okay?"

Marx didn't know how he felt about her offer. But he bit back a huff. "...Sure?" He replied sheepishly. Ugh, that was pathetic, he could only think. 

"Great! See you soon, then!" She was just so excited. Marx couldn't tell if he was annoyed by it or not. He hated dealing with such genuinely nice people. 

She closed the door behind her, and silence filled the room. He could hear her let out an exhale from the other side of the door, before her footsteps faded down the stairs.

He looked back the food. He could have easily just dumped it in the trash or out the window or something. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to. 

"Ugh," he groaned. Kind people were the worse. Weaseling their way into people's heads with all their stupid kindness. He was going to leave Pop Star and look for another planet and another Nova after he got healed up. He didn't need this. 

And despite his thoughts, he took another bite out of the weird slab of 'food'. Maybe it was because he was just too hungry to care, or maybe because he didn't want to think of upsetting Cosmo any further, but he finished his food regardless. 

It tasted awful, but he couldn't help but feel a little lighter somehow. 

Hopefully that wasn't just the food poisoning setting in.


End file.
